You mentioned bitter in your one post above, and was wondering. Keep in mind, this was 3rd of the ones from O-Cha I have tried in my personal ranking. I have not had some of the good ones they offer.When it is weak, up the leaf!
Thanks for the review which speaks volumes coming from someone with the name "puerhking"! It is always good to hear of another convert to the classic YM!puerhking wrote:I bought the Sencha Yutaka Midori a couple of weeks ago. I had some pretty stratospheric expectations based on what I've heard. I doubt anything could have met them, but this came very close. After I tried it...I went back to some Umami Chaya sencha that is near the end of its life and it was intolerable.
Basically, it is a fantastic tea with a wider breadth of flavor, nice mouthfeel and a lingering finish. Much like wine, it is helpful to develop your palate before you buy the one of the best. I don't think I could have fully appreciated this in the beginning. My main concern now is...will I ever be able to drink a lesser tea?
rjiwrth wrote:Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori
). The second infusion yielded that bright green color I'd seen in all the photos. It almost glowed. Still, no bitterness, no astringency. The flavor had such clarity. The aroma continued to remain a part of the exprience well into the third infusion. I went between experiencing thickness in flavor to crispness. The best of both worlds. The third infusion was deeper, more ocean and vegetable flavors lingered. Still, not harsh, not bitter and still quite alive. The fourth infusion was less crisp and vibrant, but still the subtle flavor lingered and I wanted more. If you preheat, try a bit cooler water ... if you do not, try a bit warmer. Also, if you do preheat, after you put the leaves in, smell the warming leaves, whoa! Oh, but there's always room for improvement! I always preheat my teaware...but never thought of smelling the warming leaves. Yum!Chip wrote:Since you are having positive results, I hate to make any suggestions ... butttttt ...
Also, try increasing the time for your first steep by around 20 seconds. Also try decreasing your second steep time by 20ish seconds.
These are just suggestions based on a lot of subjectivity. Your results may vary.
Be sure you are sitting before you sniff the warming leaves.rjiwrth wrote:Oh, but there's always room for improvement! I always preheat my teaware...but never thought of smelling the warming leaves. Yum!Chip wrote:Since you are having positive results, I hate to make any suggestions ... butttttt ...
Also, try increasing the time for your first steep by around 20 seconds. Also try decreasing your second steep time by 20ish seconds.
These are just suggestions based on a lot of subjectivity. Your results may vary.
I will surely try your recommendations for upping the steeping time for the first and decreasing for my second. Thanks for the suggestions.
Okay, Plantpartaker....your samples are in the mail as of today. If this care package doesn't turn you into a green fiend, nothing will. To tea.Chip wrote:Rarely is tea from Japan sold as samples due mostly to strict packaging procedures, however often members offer samples to other members.plant partaker wrote:but they dont have samples do you (anybody) know where to get this tea in a smaller portion
Hello, and welcome to the first edition of Mike’s Tea Review. It was a rough go at it for a while but I finally made it and I once again have tea. Today I will be reviewing a japanese green tea from O-Cha.com: Uji Sencha Miyabi.
O-Cha.com was founded in 1998 by Mr. Kevin Moore and is a Japan-based business, located in Iwaki City , Fukushima, Japan. Their website gives us the following description of Uji Sencha Miyabi…
From the first harvest, a very special sencha from Uji, near Kyoto, this tea is very aromatic and is of the highest quality. From the moment you open the package, that special aroma lets you know you’re in for a treat. Deep green in color, “Miyabi” is arguably one of our very best sencha green teas . We originally found this wonderful tea on a product scouting mission in Japan and brought some back to offer our customers. It’s been popular ever since.
This particular sencha is a chuumushi (or medium steamed sencha). More information on tea steaming can be found here.
Upon opening my package from O-Cha I found that not only was the tea in a nitrogen-flushed Mylar bag, but that bag was itself sealed in a plastic bag. I would assume that this extra bag is for if the box were to get wet in transit. This attention to detail illustrates that the people at O-Cha take their (and your) tea seriously.
When I opened the bag, the aroma of the dry leaf filled the area. The leaf was a mixed bag of long needles and not so long needles. This was my first chuumushi, so I can’t say for sure if this type of leaf is typical ( although it did look like more long needles than my last fukamushi).
Click to Enlarge
Dry leaf on 1/4" graph paper
The brewing guide that O-Cha provides recommends using 0.6 grams of leaf per 1 ounce of water. This is a baseline ratio and is a good starting point. Personally, I prefer to brew more leaf with a shorter steeping time. All of my water temperatures take into account a preheated kyusu. The following were my observations:
Leaf: 5.4 grams
Water: 6 ounces
Steep 1 – 1:15 @ 160° : The initial steep yielded a very robust vegetal, almost spinach-like flavor. There was very little astringency and a mild sweetness. The liquor on this brew was a pale yellow/green.
Steep 2 – 0:15 @ 167° : This steep yielded a deep murky green liquor that reminded me of a fukamushi in appearance. Upon tasting there was a bit more astringency, but the most noticeable characteristic was the amount of umami. It was so apparent that it pretty much overpowered even the vegetal taste of the tea. This is quite possibly the most umami I have ever tasted in a cup of tea.
Steep 3 – 0:30 @ 175° : This steep was probably my favorite of the five. The liquor was still murky, but not nearly as dark as the previous steep. There was still umami, however it was nowhere near as overpowering as before. There was also almost a perfect balance of sweetness and astringency. One thing that I noticed on this steep that I did not notice on the others is that there was almost a nutty finish to the taste.
Steep 4 – 1:00 @ 180° : This brew was somewhat vegetal however the sweetness is starting to emerge from the leaf. The liquor is moving back towards a pale green and it was very easy to drink.
Steep 5 – 2:00 @ 190° : The fifth and final brew was pale yellow/green and produced a very mild and sweet cup of tea. This was a very pleasant drink and the sweetness almost seemed to be a “dessert” to the main course of umami that I had experienced earlier.
The following pictures show the appearance of the brewed liquor. The first brew is top center. Following brews move clockwise around the circle. There is also a picture of some of the brewed leaf on 1/4″ graph paper.
Wet leaf on 1/4" graph paper
Liquor color - 5 steepings
Overall, this was a very enjoyable yet complex tea. If you like fukamushi sencha then you will almost assuredly enjoy this chuumushi. At a cost of $25.95 per 100 grams it is not the most economical tea, however the quality is apparent. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.
Thank for joining me and I hope to have another review for you soon.
Mike
5-6 days is common. So this was not a Shincha Preorder? Shincha preorders go out when all the items in the order are available.thediminished5th wrote:What is the average time it takes to for an O-Cha order to reach the east coast in your experience?
I ask because I made my first O-Cha order and it shipped First Class on the 13th. Here it is 28th and no tea. I see that O-Cha says that it is usually 5-11 days.
Thanks!
Hmm, I never had a lost package from O-Cha, and only one package from Japan was ever lost. So it is very rare.thediminished5th wrote:I have just contacted O-Cha but I fear I may have gotten burned by a lost parcel. I guess I'll have to use EMS in the future. :/
